Western Apache Dictionary

PRONUNCIATION HELP
FOR NON-APACHE SPEAKERS

It is recommended that one consult a native speaker of the
language for refinements of pronunciation.

VOWELS

a as in father

e as in bed

i as in police

o as in toe varying toward o as in to

(when the sound is definitely as in 'to',

it is spelled with u)

LENGTH:

All of the four vowels above may be short or long, referring to
duration of sound, not to difference in quality. Length is indicated
by doubling the vowel. When the vowel is single, the sound is so
short that the quality is not so pronounced, and the i may sound
like i in it. Illustrations of the long and short vowels are given
on the vowel chart under The Western Apache Alphabet.

NASALIZATION:

Each of the four vowels may also be nasalized. This is indicated
by a hook under the vowel -3, e., i, q. In pronouncing a nasalized
vowel, some of the air goes through the nasal passage.

34 in 33I it is finished

e. in alch'ishg/alts'fs^ little

j| in dffi four

q in dq* fly

CONSONANTS

No mention will be made here of the consonants which are
sounded practically as in English.

' glottal stop This might be called the 'hold your breath' or the
'close your glottis' letter. When one says 'oh oh' to a child
when he stumbles, the breath is held for an instant between
the two 'ohs*. In Apache it would be written 6'oo.

ch* glottalized ch This is made entirely with mouth air. The
mouth is shaped for ch, the breath is caught, then released
sharply to pronounce the vowel which follows. Try saying
o'oo, then 6ch'oo, being sure to close the glottis after the
first 6.

d, n may be pronounced as d or n or nd, depending on the
pronunciation of the speaker. The non-Apache should dis-
cover which is the most usual pronunciation in the area
where he is.

dl is pronounced as in paddling with the syllable division-
pa-dling.

dz This is the sound which ends the word adds. One must learn
to pronounce it at the beginning of syllables. In the sen-
tence, 'He adds a row of figures', say the adds a together,
then divide it as a-dza.

g is always pronounced as g in get, never as in gentle.

gh is made with the mouth shaped for g, but with the back
of the tongue not quite touching the roof of the mouth,
and air passing between as the vocal chords operate. You
will find this written only before a in this dictionary. It
occurs before the other vowels, but because the mouth is
shaped for the vowel, before e and i it sounds more like
a gutteral y, and is written as y for ease in reading. Before
o, it sounds more like a gutteral w, so is written as w,

h When syllable initial, h is sometimes heavily aspirated.

hw is like wh in English what.

k* globalized k The mouth is shaped for k, the breath is caught
and then released sharply to pronounce the vowel which
follows, as for ch\

kw is like qu in quit.

I silent 1 The mouth is shaped for 1, but the vocal chords are not
used. The sound is made by the air blown out both sides
of the tongue.

t' glottalized t The mouth is shaped for t, the breath is caught,
then released sharply to pronounce the vowel which follows
as for eh' and k\

t\ The mouth is shaped for t, then air is blown out both sides
of the tongue as for 1.

tf* glottalized t\ The mouth is shaped for tl, the breath is caught
and then released sharply to pronounce the vowel which
follows, as for ch*, k' and t\

ts as in English lots, but it must be practiced as syllable initial
rather than as syllable final.

ts' glottalized ts The mouth is shaped for ts, the breath is
caught and then released sharply to pronounce the vowel
which follows, as for ch\ k', t\ and tf\

zh like the z in azure.

SYLLABLES

Words should be divided into syllables and sounded out syllable
by syllable, then said again smoothly. To divide words into syl-
lables accurately, it is well to know something of the syllable
structure. In general, syllable patterns are CV (Consonant, Vowel)
and CVC (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant). Syllabic n occurs, with
no vowel, and sometimes nl, or nsh. Since word initial glottal
stops are not written, words which begin with vowels (in writing)
will begin with V or VC syllables.

dotl'izh blue/green tsina'eelf boat

do tl'izh tsi na 'ee \\

ev c vc cv cv cv cv

nashinltl'og you bother me in'jjhf thief
na shf nl tl'og in 'jj hf

cv cv cc c vc vc cv cv

It is helpful to know that only certain consonants ever occur at
the end of a syllable. They are: -', -d, -g, -h, -I, 4, -n, -s, -sh, -z
and -zh.

naltsoos paper hishbizh braided

nal tsoos hish bizh

cvc c vc cvc cvc

TONE:

Tone is a feature of the language. High tone is indicated by marks
over the vowels which show that the syllable is said high. Un-
marked syllables are said low.

y&i sky binf his nostril

yaa louse bini' his land

In a few cases the tone on a long syllable is falling. This is indi-
cated by marking the first vowel but not the second.

ne'e which ends questions that can be answered yes or no

WESTERN APACHE
DICTIONARY

Compiled By

Staff of the White Mountain Apache Culture Center

Edgar Perry (Jaa Bilataha) Director

Canyon Z. Quintero, Sr.

Catherine D. Davenport

Corrine B. Perry

Illustrated By
Canyon Z. Quintero, Sr.

Cover Design By
Edgar Perry

Cover photo of Carl Clawson, Cedar Creek, Arizona

Published

by the

WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE TRIBE

©1972 White Mountain Apache Culture Center

P.O. Box 507

Fort Apache, Arizona 85926

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